


This is War

by AVeryBlueGirl



Series: A Thousand Years [4]
Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Always a girl!Charles Xavier, Angry Charles, Angry Erik, Arguments, Brainwashing, Canon Disabled Character, Charles-centric, Charlotte Xavier - Freeform, Children, Dysfunctional Family, Emotionally Crippled Erik Is Fun To Read, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Genderbending, Genderswap, Kidnapping, Paralysis, Parents & Children, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-30
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-15 09:03:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/525579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AVeryBlueGirl/pseuds/AVeryBlueGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with an argument, a betrayal. He never meant to betray her. But that doesn't make the effects any less horrible. It's his fault that Charlotte was in the hands of a mad scientist with a proclivity for experimenting on mutants. And so it's up to him to make this right.<br/>He has to save her. Because he just can't live in this world without her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Warning

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't already, please read the other works in this series first. This is chronologically fourth and set in "X2: X-Men United". Events may confuse you if you have not read the previous works.   
> Thank you.

**Book 4: This is War**

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Warning**

****_"A warning to the people,_  
The good and the evil:  
This is war.  
To the soldier, the civilian  
The martyr, the victim:  
This is war."

**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

Charlotte wasn't surprised the field trip ended in having to pause everyone in the food court to wipe people's memory of one of the students' powers. She was, however, at least hoping that the older ones would have had the sense not to be the ones to cause it. Well, the professor told herself as she wheeled into the food court, children are children.

"Bobby, what did you do?" Rogue asked in shock at the sight of the frozen people.

He shook his head. "I didn't do this..."

"No," Charlotte said, coming up to them, "I did." At least they had the sense to look shamefaced and thoroughly chastised without her having to say more. "The next time you feel like showing off, don't."

John nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Before she unfroze the other people, the television drew her attention.

"...We're coming to you live from Washington, where there's been an attack in the Oval Office of the White House. Details are still coming in but we have been informed that the President and Vice President were not harmed. Sources say the attack involved one or more mutants…"

Scott spoke up. "I think it's time to leave, Professor."

The telepath nodded. "I think you're right." And the food court leapt back to life as she released their minds.

* * *

"In my opinion, Magneto's behind this," Scott said stubbornly.

Jean shook her head. "No, I don't think so, Scott."

The professor hummed in thought. "While Erik is capable of organizing something like this from prison, from him this is irrational. It would only hurt his goal of mutant prosperity."

She knew it in her bones that he wouldn't do this. She could feel it.

"You mean superiority," Pietro corrected quietly.

Her lips thinned for a moment. "You're right," she admitted, "Had Erik had his way."

Storm spoke up. "And of course, you know how the government will respond. They'll reintroduce the Mutant Registration Act."

"Or worse," Charlotte added, "The President could declare a state of emergency and place every mutant in the country under arrest."

"Do you think the assassin was working alone?" Jean asked.

"Well, we'll only know that if we find him before the authorities do," the telepath said. "I've been trying to track him using Cerebro but his movements are inexplicably erratic. When I have more exact coordinates, Storm, Jean, I'll need you to take the jet to try and pick him up."

They all file out to leave her to her work.

She doesn't say that she has a suspect in mind of who the mutant is or who he is related to, but she's quite certain nevertheless.

* * *

"…We've managed to gather evidence of a training facility in the Salem area of Upstate New York," Stryker informed the President.

That was her sister's school in the photos…

"And where did you get this information?" the President asked curiously.

Stryker looked smug at that. "Interrogation of one of the mutant terrorists from the Liberty Island incident."

Mystique straightened. "Erik?" she said before she could stop herself, but calmed herself. "Erik Lehnsherr? You have access to him?"

He nodded. "Magneto, yes. We developed the technology that built his plastic prison."

If he was willing to give up the location of Charlotte's school, something was wrong. She needed to break him out sooner than planned…

The disguised mutant looked down at the photographs and something twisted in her gut. "This facility is a school," she told them. She owed it to her sister, to her former home, to Charlotte's successful dream, to try and protect them.

Stryker snorted. "Sure it is," he replied doubtfully.

As the President gave his permission for Stryker to proceed, Mystique's plan changed in her mind. Against her and Magneto or not, there were mutant children in that school and. Well. Attacking them, attacking her childhood home, attacking her sister, was something she would not stand for.

"Do you really want to turn this into some kind of war?" she asked Stryker later.

His face hardened. "…This already is a war."


	2. The Leader, The Pariah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love, Hate, Arguments, and Bookends of the same soul.

**Chapter 2**

****_"A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest_  
This is war.  
To the leader, the pariah, the victim, the messiah  
This is war."

**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

If someone asked him who he hated most in the world, for many years Erik Lehnsherr would have said Sebastian Shaw. Even after the man was dead, Erik's hatred remained because, though his search for Shaw may have led him to find Charlotte, it was Shaw who initiated the division between them as well.

Until recently, however.

Erik was surprised at himself, at the boiling pit of hatred he felt whenever Stryker came to mind. Stryker, who had a brainwashing serum that overpowered Erik's control and his loyalty to mutants—to Charlotte, even—and made the secrets spill forth.

He was in the middle of _The Once and Future King_ when he heard the guard approaching. He took a steadying breath, knowing what was next. "Mr. Laurio, how long can we keep this up?"

"How long is your sentence?" the guard replied, closing the book for him.

The word was bitter in his mouth. "Forever."

"Not necessarily forever, Mr. Lehnsherr," came Stryker's loathed voice as he strode into the room. "Just until I've got all that I need."

That was one thing he disliked about Stryker. He was insistent upon using his real name instead of calling him Magneto like everyone else. Erik hated that. It seemed to him that Erik Lehnsherr died many years ago and only Charlotte could resurrect that side of him again. Only Charlotte could he tolerate calling him Erik Lehnsherr. From anyone else's mouth…

"Mr. Stryker," he greeted coldly. "How kind of you to visit. Are you here to make sure the taxpayer's dollars are making me comfortable?"

Instead of replying, Stryker pulled the tell-tale serum from his pocket and the guard slammed Erik down to the desk by his neck, pulling his collar back. He struggled, but he was old and not as strong as he once was. Against the guard, he felt even weaker.

The serum burned into the skin of his neck. By now, he was certain it had left a scar: another scar from another tyrant.

His muscles went nearly limp.

"You can go," Stryker told the guard and pulled Erik back in his chair. "Mr. Lehnsherr, I'd like to have one final talk about the house that Xavier built and the machine called Cerebro."

Erik had never realized how many of Charlotte's secrets he knew, how many things he knew that could be used to destroy her, until Stryker had stolen them all.

He wished the serum would kill him; that would be better than this.

* * *

"I need you to watch over the children tonight, Logan," she told him. It wasn't a question. "Scott and I are going to visit an old friend."

He laughed. "You want _me_ to be your babysitter?"

"Think of it more as…extra security while I'm gone," she replied with an amused twitch of her lips. "Not being a nanny and tucking them in. Just watching over the mansion to be sure the students are safe."

* * *

"I've got her from here," the guard offered to a reluctant Scott. He allowed him to take charge of the professor's wheelchair.

Charlotte was patient as they scanned her first for metal and finally wheeled her into the prison. It was old hat now because of how often she's visited. She'd made a point to visit every Friday for a talk and the possibility of chess. But it was a Tuesday.

"Charlotte Xavier, have you come to rescue me?" he asked. It had become his usual greeting.

She did not smile as usual. "Sorry, love. Not today," she replied as she wheeled over to the table.

He glanced at her curiously over his shoulder. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The assassination attempt on the President," the telepath replied. "What do you know about it?"

With his back to her, she could see a scar at the nape of his neck, just below his hair. She wondered how long ago he had gotten it, if it was one of her students, one of her X-Men, who gave it to him…

His response was quick and honest. "Nothing. Only what I read in the papers. You really shouldn't have to ask, Charlotte."

She met his gaze and she could feel his sudden guilt and horror but nothing distinct. Concerned, the professor leaned forward in her wheelchair. "What's happened to you, Erik?"

"I've been getting recent visits from William Stryker," he replied grimly. "You remember him, don't you?"

Confused, she wheeled closer. "William Stryker?" she quietly repeated.

"His son, Jason, was once a student of yours, wasn't he?"

Charlotte nodded. "Yes…years ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to help him. At least…not in the way his father wanted."

Erik stood and began pacing. "And you think taking in the Wolverine will make up for your failure with Stryker's son? You haven't told him about his past, have you?"

"I've put him on the path," she replied. "Logan's mind is still fragile…"

He snorted. "Is it? Or are you afraid of losing one of your precious X-Men, Liebling?" He gave her an urgent look. She looked to his mind in concern.

 _Read me_ , he thought to her.

She did.

_Stryker—armed with some sort of serum that burned…his tongue loosening of its own volition…secrets spilling from his mouth … information about his and her pasts … even something slipped out about their little names for each other, 'love' and 'Liebling' … the truth about Wanda and Pietro Maximoff's actual parentage… the truth about her mutation, her school, her power, her students …the truth about that, too… and then her school…_

"What have you done, Erik?" she said in horror.

His grey eyes were regretful, horrified. "I'm sorry, Charlotte."

"What did you tell Stryker?"

Erik's reply was shaky. "Everything."

She clenched her eyes shut and curled her fists on the armrests as her breath caught in her throat. The professor did not look at him. "I must go immediately. If the school is at risk, there's no time to waste. Not with Stryker. I need to ready our security and defenses—"

"Charlotte."

Reluctantly, the telepath looked to him, guarded and torn. "Erik."

He stood and met her eyes regretfully. "I'm sorry."

"I know."

The prisoner stared at her with pained grey eyes. "I am, Liebling."

" _I know_ ," she repeated sharply, turning her chair to face the exit. "You said. I feel your regret, Erik. I know you well enough after these years…even without reading your mind. I know."

Her lips thinned, white in her unusually pale face as she tried to signal the end of her visit to the guards. They didn't seem to notice.

The magnetokinetic reached and grasped her hand. "You know I would never have betrayed you if I had the option. Stryker—"

"What do you want me to say, Erik?" she interrupted, nearly shouting as she pulled her hand from his grasp. "I know you'd never have betrayed me. I know you have no option. _I know_. What more would you have me say? That I forgive you?"

His shoulders dropped slightly. He didn't need to reply. His entire mind sang with _YES!_

"I can't forgive you for this, Erik!" she exclaimed. "Not if—if—"

Her voice broke and she closed her eyes as she struggled for the words. "If someone is killed, if any of my children are hurt, if my school is invaded while they are there…I will never forgive you. I cannot. I will not. Not this time."

"Charlotte—" his voice cracked. "Please."

"No," she snapped and turned to look at him with pained but resolute eyes. "I should have wiped it from your memory—Westchester, the mansion, the school. After Cuba—once I recovered, I wiped it from Moira's mind. The children suggested that, when we next saw you, they fight you until they ripped that damn helmet from your head so I could make you forget—for our own protection. I refused because I thought it was safe with you. Because I trusted you."

Her blue eyes were furious and heartbroken as she looked at him. "I was wrong."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "And yet, I recall my identity being betrayed to the government some years ago." Erik's tone was cool, his eyes sharp.

"You were about to ignite a war with the Friends of Humanity and every other human out there!" she spat. "A war mutants are hopelessly, _laughably_ outnumbered in! There was no chance—there _is_ no chance of mutants winning a war against billions of humans!"

"I forgave you nevertheless," he snapped. "Even after you recently assisted the government in keeping me here."

The professor's serene façade was gone, burned away in her ire. " _You might have just killed them all—all my children, all my family, my children!_ " she screamed. "The twins might be captured, hunted, tortured, killed now—because the mansion is vulnerable and Stryker knows who they are! I don't _care_ if Stryker knows about the mansion—I care that he knows _who_ lives within it!

"I only gave your name because I knew they had no chance of catching you. And now, I only assisted because I know you won't remain in here forever."

"Still confident in me, then," he remarked dryly.

Her lip curled (if Erik didn't know any better, he'd have thought it a snarl). "I know you, Erik. After all these years, I know how you think. You won't let little thing like this plastic prison stop you. I know you, Erik Magnus Lehnserr. Once you set your eyes on a goal, you grip it tight and will move heaven and earth to achieve it, no matter who you have to hurt to get there!"

Charlotte, once incited, had a fury to match his, though it was never seen. Now, in that tiny plastic prison, as she forced the guards' minds away from the shouting (thankful that there were no cameras), her rage surfaced past her calm, professorial mask. But Erik was never one to be impressed by the intensity of her anger.

"I'm doing this for _you_ —for the twins—for all mutants!" he yelled. "Don't you—"

"For me?" she spat. "Don't you _ever_ say you are starting this war, committing this terrorism, killing these people _in my name!_ You think you're helping us—helping _me?_

"All you've ever done—all you ever do—is hurt me! It's like every time you touch me…something breaks. Something in me. Every time you get too close or I let down my guard or try to trust you. My hope that we could work together for a common goal—you broke that in our last chess game before Cuba. My spine, my ability to walk on that beach. And ever since…it's only ever been slowly killing my heart."

The words tasted like ash and Cuban sand in her mouth. There was a pain in her back; she wondered if it would ever leave.

Erik deflated suddenly, like the air let out of a balloon. "Charlotte," he whispered remorsefully. "If I had known—if I had been there…"

"You were never there!" she snapped. "Not after Cuba—not after helping put a bullet in my back, not after making me paraplegic, not after Anya _died!_ You weren't there! Not when the twins were born—or cried in the middle of the night—started walking—got their powers—or grew up. You were never there when I needed you most. You hovered nearby, just out of my peripheral vision—always present, like a ghost, enough to distract me, but never within reach. Which, in the later years, was probably for the best." Her tone turned bitter.

"There was a time," he said softly, "that you called us 'bookends of the same soul,' Charlotte."

The telepath let out the air from her lungs slowly as a single tear pooled in the corner of her left eye and slipped down her cheek. "Yes," she agreed softly. "But do you know what bookends never do? Touch."

He bowed his head and said nothing as one of the guards finally arrived to escort her from the cell. The magnetokinetic couldn't help projecting one last thought to her as she left.

 _You should have killed me when you had the chance, Charlotte_.

She gave no response.

He wondered if she agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'bookends' phrase is used in the comics. Xavier actually says "We're bookends of the same soul."  
> If you want to see this panel, I found it on livejournal here: http://ishtar79.livejournal.com/163980.html


	3. The Moment to Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Xavier School is invaded and Charlotte makes a choice.

****_"…It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie,  
The moment to live and the moment to die  
The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight…"_

**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

The flight back from Erik's prison took longer than expected because of weather; it was nearly three in the morning when the professor and Scott returned to the school.

They came in to find one of the children watching television in the front room.

"Go to bed, Shawn," she instructed gently. The eight year old scurried off as Scott turned off the TV. Voices came from the kitchen and echoed down the wooden corridors.

Charlotte wheeled into the kitchen to find Logan and Bobby sitting at the table—the teen eating a snack, Wolverine drinking a soda.

"Sup, Charlie," the older mutant greeted, raising his bottle slightly.

"Scott, retrieve the twins. Quickly," she instructed. "Bobby, you should return to bed."

The boy wasn't as quick to listen to her as the eight year old boy. "What's wrong, Professor?" he asked.

She hesitated before making a decision. "Go and wake Rogue, John, Kitty, Colossus, and the other older students. Be quick and do not wake or alert the young ones yet. This is urgent."

Bobby nodded and left after Scott.

"Jean and Ororo are still out looking for that mutant," she murmured to herself. They'd have to contact them soon. They weren't due for another two hours, but they needed to be informed quickly…

The telepath looked to Logan. "A man named William Stryker is now aware of my school and my students. It isn't safe here. We need to evacuate to a safe location immediately before he makes his move. Logan, can I count on you?"

He snorted. _You have to ask, Professor?_ He thought but nodded to her. She gave him a look of gratitude but said nothing else as the others hurried in quickly—disheveled, sleepy-eyed, and confused. Bobby followed moments later with the eldest students.

She outlined the situation—Stryker, the danger, the possibility that he'd come after them—but she said nothing of how Stryker had found out.

"We need to wake all the students and get moving quickly," the telepath said. "We need to be discreet. Stryker likely knows about the jet; it's too inconspicuous. The bunker has a secret exit for emergencies, which will be safe to use—"

"Where will we go?" asked Wanda.

Charlotte hummed. "We need to contact Jean and Ororo. But I can call in a favor with Emma or, more likely, Nick Fur—" She stopped suddenly, tilting her head curiously . "Is that—?"

"Helicopters. Several of 'em. Getting' closer," Logan replied, standing from his seat. Bobby went to the window, but it was overcast and no light from the moon lit the grounds, making it impossible to see anything.

The professor's face darkened. "They're coming. Jean, Wanda, Rogue, Kitty, John, go wake the children. The rest of you, we're going to keep them out for as long as possible. Now go!"

The group split. Charlotte turned her attention elsewhere.

"Mum," Pietro said. "You should go too. You shouldn't be here—"

She raised her eyebrow at her son. "I am likely a primary target in this raid, _mein schatz_. If I am here, that will put more focus on me and less on the children, giving them more time to escape. Do not argue."

Scott cleared his throat. "Professor, how close are they? How many?"

Charlotte reached out, sensing the familiar minds of the students and… _nothing_. There was nothing else. No other mind in her reach near the grounds. None. But the helicopters were within her range and so—

The professor grit her teeth. "Stryker's been busy," she muttered before informing the others, "They've got helmet's like Erik's. I can't read them at all. I can't touch them. I don't know how many there are. Take off their helmets if you get the chance and I can take it from there—"

She was interrupted by a black-wearing, Kevlar-sporting, gun-toting man creeping into the kitchen. Pietro was at his side faster than they could see and hit the man atop his head, sending him sprawling to the floor. Not for the first time, she was impressed by her son's speed.

"Here they come," he muttered as several more followed.

Logan sprung instantly and buried his claws into one of the soldiers. "You picked the _wrong_ house, bub," he spat as the man fell, bleeding, to the floor.

Moments after, an ear-splitting shriek woke and alarmed every mind, every person within the house. _Siryn_. They were already reaching the students' dorms then.

Reaching out with her mind, she told her students, _Quickly, go downstairs to the basement. The older students and teachers are there. Move as quickly as you can and stay together!_

She changed focus abruptly as Wolverine ripped a soldier's helmet from his head. The telepath dove into his mind, sharp like barbed wire as she dug through his thoughts, slicing to his memories with neat efficiency.

_Nearly three hundred men, surrounding the mansion, all armed with tranquilizer and guns and an anti-telepath helmet (modeled after the one they'd taken from Magneto). They had to get her, the telepath, Charlotte Xavier—she was the focus. The others were secondary. They were to drug and knock them out—but were not to use deadly force unless absolutely necessary, unless against her. Not Professor Xavier. Stryker had threatened to have their job and their balls if anyone seriously hurt her._

Useful. She hesitated but thundered into his mind, _SLEEP_.

He did.

Logan dropped him and moved on, blades shining red as he fought. Pietro was a blur—flying about, knocking men out, knocking off their helmets. Scott and Bobby were working well together.

They were all in front of her, gathered nearby—hovering protectively around her. How sad.

"Go, damn you!" she yelled. "See to the children! Bobby, Pietro— _go!_ Logan, Scott, let's keep them occupied. I can handle myself, just knock off a few more helmets! They have orders to take us alive—especially me. Now, _go!_ "

The two did as she instructed, hurrying off, though Pietro knocked every helmet he could off as he ran at his full speed to find his sister, the children, and the others.

She collected every soldiers' mind she could and seized them instantly, pulling out their tranquilizers and firing them at their comrades—who dropped like fruit flies to the floor.

 _Scott, the west wing—cover it! They need more time!_ She ordered and the man hurried off, leaving only the telepath and Logan.

He turned a corner and yelled at the men, "You wanna shoot me, _shoot me!_ "

" _Don't shoot him_!" Both Charlotte and Logan stilled at the sharp command. "Not yet." She heard a man stroll down the corridor towards the metal-laced mutant.

"Wolverine? Well, I admit this is certainly the last place I expected to find you. How long has it been—fifteen years? You haven't changed one bit; me, on the other hand, nature. I didn't realize Xavier was taking in animals, even animals as unique as you."

The professor wheeled around the corner to Logan's side. "Hello, Mr. Stryker," she greeted coldly.

"Stryker," Logan repeated, pausing, trying to remember… "Who are you?"

The man sneered at Charlotte but chuckled to Wolverine. "You don't remember?" he asked, eyes glinting in the shadows cast by the helmet on his head.

Before anymore could be said, ice crept up the walls and coalesced into a beautiful, thick sheet of ice—a wall between them and Stryker.

Bobby, Rogue, and John had come back for them.

"No!" Logan exclaimed, cut off from his answers.

"Logan, Professor, come on!" Rogue called. "Logan!"

"Go!" he called over his shoulder. "I'll be fine."

Rogue shook her head. "But we won't."

Reluctantly, he turned and hurried away as Stryker embedded an explosive into the ice. Charlotte followed them to the end of the hall. "Go!" she encouraged and mentally nudged them to keep going, not to notice that she had stopped at the end of the hall. They went running and the ice exploded before her, shards flying everywhere, but she was far enough away that it left her untouched.

The men surged forward, surrounding her and pointing guns at her. Charlotte rolled her eyes and folded her hands in her lap patiently as Stryker approached.

This was the best chance the children had—if Stryker captured her, he wouldn't be as inclined to pursue the others. He'd have accomplished his goal. This was best...

He gave a condescending smirk. "Sorry, my dear," he spat and shoved a needle of tranquilizer into her neck.

Her last thought was a fuzzy hope that she'd given them enough time.


	4. The Liar, The Honest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My boy, the great illusionist." Stryker said bitterly, before smiling at her cruelly. "But you know all about raising mutant children, don't you? I'm curious: were little Wanda and Pietro Lehnsherr problematic children?"

_"A warning to the prophet,_  
The liar, the honest,  
This is war."

**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

She woke in a very different place, still in her wheelchair, but there was a strange metallic device on her head. The telepath opened her eyes to find Stryker there, watching her.

"William," Charlotte greeted hoarsely.

"Please, Ms. Xavier, don't get up," he said with a smirk. Charlotte reached for his mind but instead gave a gasp of pain as it shot through her head: an instant migraine that thundered through her skull. Stryker's smirk grew. "I call it my neural inhibitor. It keeps you out of here." He tapped his forehead.

She glanced down to find her wrists strapped down to the armrests of her wheelchair. Her lips thinned and she looked back to her captor. To her surprise, she spotted a familiar pair of glasses in his hands. "What have you done with Scott?"

He stood and walked to the door. "Don't worry, I'm just giving him a little…re-education," he turned back to her. "Of course, you know all about that, don't you?"

"William, you wanted me to _cure_ your son, but mutation isn't a disease."

" _You're lying_!" the embittered man shouted suddenly. "You were more afraid of him than I was. You know, just one year after Jason returned from your school, my wife… You see, he resented us—he blamed us for his condition, so he would _toy_ with our minds, projecting visions and scenarios into our brains. Well, my wife, in the end…she took a power drill to her left temple in an attempt to… _bore_ the images out. My boy," he said bitterly, "The great illusionist."

Stryker smiled at her cruelly. "But you know all about raising mutant children, don't you? I'm curious: were little Wanda and Pietro Lehnsherr problematic children?"

She said nothing in reply. Charlotte looked to his assistant, who seemed to suddenly come from a trance, but Stryker noticed. He went to her side and pulled her head down to put several drops of caustic liquid on her neck.

"For someone who hates mutants, you certainly keep strange company."

He smiled at Charlotte, smug. "Oh, they serve their purpose," he replied with a sinister tone. "As long as they can be controlled."

The professor realized, horrified, that it had to be some kind of brainwashing or mind control serum. And if he could control mutants… "You arranged the attack on the President," she concluded.

"And you didn't even have to read my mind," Stryker said in false pride. "I'm impressed. I guess there's more to you than just reading minds."

She rolled her eyes. "You _do_ realize I have three doctorates and am a leading expert on genetics and mutation, correct?"

He ignored her comment and came to loom over her. "You know, I've been working with mutants nearly as long as you have, Ms Xavier, but the most frustrating thing I've learned is that nobody even knows how many exist or how to find them…except _you_."

Icy fear settled in her stomach.

"Unfortunately, this little potion won't work on you, will it?" he chuckled darkly. "You're much too powerful for that. Instead, we'll go right to the source.

"Allow me to introduce Mutant One-Four-Three."

His employees brought in a sickly, vacant man in a wheelchair and dressed in a hospital gown.

"The fluids secreted by his brain act as a mind controlling agent," Stryker explained. "But that's only where it begins."

She inhaled sharply. " _Scheiße_ ," she murmured in horror. "Oh my God, William— _this is your son!_ What have you done—"

" _No_ , Charlotte," he snapped. "My son is dead. Just like the rest of you."

* * *

Erik was pacing.

He worried but knew it was out of his hands for now. He could only hope that Stryker's men would fail and Charlotte and her children could escape in time. If not, he prayed that Stryker's serum wouldn't work on her.

For the first time in many years, he gave a prayer, fearful for Charlotte, and prayed that either she escaped or Mystique would succeed in breaking him out soon.

His thoughts were disrupted by Lorio, who came in with his lunch. "Have a good sleep, Lehnsherr?" the guard asked.

Erik's lips curled into a smile. It seemed that Mystique had indeed implemented her plan… "There's something different about you, Mr. Lorio," he noticed lightly.

He nodded. "Yeah, I was having a good day."

"No," Erik replied. "It's not that…"

The guard watched him stand. "Sit down," he said apprehensively.

Still, the magnetokinetic smiled. "No."

"Sit your ass down," Lorio snapped. Erik raised his hand and was pleased to see him rise into the air as well. "What are you doing—" the guard gasped.

"Ah, there it is," he murmured to himself and tutted to the guard. "Too much iron in your blood," he said and _pulled._

The iron left the guard's body in a red-tinted burst of particles before they condensed above his palm into little globules while Lorio slumped over to the floor heavily.

"Mr. Lorio, never trust a beautiful woman," he chastised with a smirk. "Especially not one who's interested in me." He sent the little iron balls shattering through the glass of the door, even as the little tube-like exit retracted from his cell.

Flattening one of the globules into a wide disk, he levitated across the void to freedom.

Now, to find Mystique. Then, to find Stryker and, hopefully, Charlotte.


	5. To the Right, To the Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magneto and the X-Men meet and collaborate.

**_“…To the right,_ **   
**_To the left,_**   
**_We will fight to the death_ **   
**_To the edge of the earth_ **   
**_It's a brave new world_ **   
**_From the last to the first…”_ **

**~ “This is War”, 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

She fought the delusions. It was almost like a psychic battle, but they aren’t on an even playing field with abilities—not their skill level, but rather their capabilities.

Charlotte recognized the first illusion because she had not stood in more than forty years and the last time was on a beach in Cuba beside Erik, not in her office.

After that, he wormed his way in and took root.

He stole the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, making her lose herself in the delusion.

And damn him, he knew her weakness. He knew how protective she was of children—especially those who alone or unable to protect themselves.

* * *

Erik watched as the X-Men’s jet narrowly avoided the missiles until they didn’t. He could sense the hole blown into the roof of the jet and mended it swiftly—even as the jet plummeted.

He directed it toward him and lowered it to the ground.

“When will these people learn how to fly?” he muttered to Mystique.

And so they found themselves in an alliance with the X-Men and discussed what they knew with the Wolverine, Dr. Grey, Storm, and the twins.

“…His name is Colonel William Stryker,” Erik told them, “and he invaded your mansion for one purpose: he wanted Cerebro or enough of it to build one of his own.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Dr. Grey replied. “Stryker would need the Professor to operate it.”

“That, I fear, is the only reason my old friend is still alive.” Erik closed his eyes in regret.

Wanda closed her eyes and bowed her head wordlessly. Beside her, Pietro laid a hand on her shoulder sadly.

“Oh my God,” Storm murmured as her and Jean’s eyes met in realization.

The Wolverine was clueless. As usual. “What’re you all so afraid of?”

Erik sighed but explained. “When Cerebro is working, Charlotte’s mind is connected to every living person on the planet. If she were forced to concentrate hard enough on a particular group, let’s say mutants for example, she could kill us all.” His voice hardened, trying to convey the danger of the situation, and added softer, “Not to mention that the effort of it could very will kill Charlotte too.”

“Wait a second,” Storm said sharply. “How would Stryker even know where to find Cerebro in the first place?”

“Because he told Stryker.”

The voice cut through the conversation.

Magneto grimaced. “Emma, Cordelia.” he greeted coolly. “Good to see you could make it.”

Logan eyed the newcomers warily. “Who’re your friends, Magneto? And what does she mean that you told Stryker?”

“Friend is a very loose and ill-fitting word,” the blond woman replied. “Emma Frost. I’m an… _acquaintance_ of both Magneto here and the Professor. I heard the trouble with Stryker and we came to offer our assistance.”

The other, slightly darker blond woman added, “I’m Cordelia Frost—her sister and a former student of the Professor’s.”

“So, you both just came rushing to offer to help us?” Scott said warily, remembering the sisters’ brief years at the Xavier school. “How did you even hear about this?”

Cordelia chuckled. “It’s all over the news, though the details were muddled. But we can recognize the Westchester estate well enough.”

“How’d you know he told Stryker?” Jean asked Emma.

“Because he is constantly wallowing in his guilt and fury about it in his mind,” the blond replied. “I’m a telepath like you and the Professor.”

Erik glared at her. “ _Why_ are you here, Emma?”

“I owe the Professor a debt,” the telepath replied calmly. “You know that. Stryker escaped us all those years ago. He won’t be this time. Now, why don’t you explain why you told him?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Pietro bit out. “Do tell. _Why?_ Why would you do that to her? Why—”

“Pietro,” Wanda said quietly to her brother. “Getting angry at him won’t help her now. Calm down and give him time to explain.”

Logan nodded. “Calm down, hot shot. Don’t kill him before he can explain. After he does, though, I’m kinda curious why you constantly look like you want to kill Magneto.”

Wanda looked to him with sharp eyes. “She didn’t tell you, did she?” the auburn-haired mutant asked vaguely.

“Seeing as I don’t have a damn clue what you’re talking about, I’m going to say: no, she didn’t,” the amnesiac replied.

With a sigh, she explained, “The Professor is our mother, Logan.”

The Wolverine’s eyes widened. “Wait—she’s…what? Are you fucking with me?”

“She’s telling the truth,” Jean told him. “Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, they’re the Professor’s little-known twin children.”

Logan stared at the two for a moment before repeating, “Maximoff?”

They exchanged a long glance. Pietro shrugged. Wanda hesitated, reluctant to speak.

To their right came a long-suffering sigh. “They’re mine,” Erik said, impatient with their secrets. At the metal-infused mutant’s confused look, the magnetokinetic rolled his eyes. “They are my children, Logan. Do I need to put this in simpler terms for you?” he added, condescending.

“Wait—so, you and the Professor—?” he stared, speechless in shock. “You two…?”

Erik replied sharply, “That was implied, yes.”

“Why Maximoff?” Emma asked idly. “I always wondered…”

“One of my old aliases—Magnus Maximoff,” he replied impatiently. “We agreed it would be better for people not to know their father is the wanted mutant terrorist Magneto. Safer. Considered they might then be in danger from both her enemies and, more importantly, my own. Can we move on, now?”

“Yeah,” Scott agreed. “Why don’t you share about you telling Stryker about Cerebro?”

The white-haired mutant sighed. “I was there from Cerebro’s very beginnings, remember? I know how it was built, how it works. Mr. Stryker has…powerful methods of persuasion…even against me—even against a mutant as powerful as Charlotte.”

The anger was plain to see on Jean Grey’s face but she focused. “So who is this Stryker, anyway?”

“He’s a military scientist,” Erik replied, eying Wolverine briefly. “He’s spent his whole life trying to _solve_ the mutant _problem_. If you want a more intimate perspective, why don’t you ask Wolverine?” Logan looked as clueless as the rest. “You don’t remember, do you? William Stryker, the only other man I know who can manipulate adamantium—the metal on your bones. It carries his signature.”

“But the Professor—”

“The professor trusted you were smart enough to discover it on your own,” he sneered. “She gives you more credit than I do.”

“Why do you need us?” the white-haired woman asked suspiciously.

“Mystique has discovered plans of a base that Stryker’s been working out of for decades,” Erik replied. “We know that’s where he’s building the second Cerebro, _but_ we don’t know where this base is. And I believe one of you might.”

Wolverine shook his head. “The Professor already tried—”

“Once again,” he replied sharply, “You think it’s all about you.” Erik looked up, smirking. The others followed his gaze.

Nightcrawler clung to a branch and said nervously, “Oh, hello…”

­

* * *

As it turned out, he was right.


	6. We Will Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Motivation, Love, Regret, and Faith.
> 
> Or, Erik speaks with Emma Frost and then the Twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, personally, one of my favorite chapters. I hope you enjoy it!

_"To the right, to the left_  
We will fight to the death  
To the Edge of the Earth."

**~ "This is War," 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

After Emma had drawn the location of Stryker's base from Kurt Wagner's willing mind, they settled in for the night. Most of them, anyways.

Erik was instead on the X-Men's jet, tinkering and fixing the damage from the missile. Jean Grey had briefly checked on him, asking if he needed any assistance, but left once he declined her offer. Mystique had left in favor of talking with her long-abandoned son. (Neither of them had been very good parents, he would admit openly, but at least _he_ hadn't left the twins to be raised in a circus.)

Shortly thereafter, Emma Frost decided to bother him as he worked. For a moment, she only observed him silently before laughing to herself.

"If you're going to be here while I work, either tell me what you want or leave," he growled.

The blond woman smirked widely. "You've changed, Magneto," she idly observed.

He snorted. "I've gotten old," he replied shortly. "You, on the other hand, seem unchanged completely."

"Is that a compliment, Mags?" she laughed with a smirk. "From you, I think that is."

"Take it however you wish as long as it gets you to leave."

"Oh, don't be like that," she tutted and smiled at him with a very _particula_ r smile. "We're not enemies, after all. There was a time we were very close, if you remember. It was a good time."

Erik glared at the telepath, glad again for his helmet. "We were never that close, Frost," he replied shortly. "Not as _close_ as you and Shaw were, once upon a time."

The blond sighed. "Is that it? You think I'm only Shaw's sloppy seconds?"

"I'm not interested," he replied crossly. "You should stop insinuating and offering."

"You weren't interested. Ever. That's a blow to a woman's vanity," she mused, then grinned widely. "You're still hung up about the dear Professor, then?" He said nothing. "That's a yes, then. I had wondered, you know. I thought you might be doing this purely because of your concerns for mutantkind, but I should have known your interests in this were more…selfish."

"You enjoy the sound of your own voice, don't you, Emma?" he asked in irritation. "I don't think my motivation is any of your business. Nor is my relationship with Charlotte."

"Charlotte?" she repeated with a smile. "Hm. Still in love with her, aren't you? Oh, come on. Who'm I going to tell? I kept your secrets when I was with the Brotherhood; I still keep them."

He sighed. "If I answer you, will you leave me to my thoughts in peace?"

"Yes. So, _are_ you still in love with her?"

The magnetokinetic glared for a long moment before replying. "Yes, I am," he replied softly.

Emma smirked. "Not so difficult, now was it, Mags? I'm leaving, don't bother getting all fussy. Your children want a word with you." She turned and left the jet. A moment later, the twins came, fidgeting awkwardly, on board.

"Eavesdropping again?" he asked lightly and shook his head with an amused smile before growing serious. "How are you holding up?"

They shrugged. "Mum's in the hands of a crazy scientist with a fondness for experimentation," Pietro said angrily (though the anger, Erik was glad to see, was for once not directed at him). "Not too happy, but coping."

"We're alright," Wanda surmised. "Stryker isn't going to be."

Their father smiled darkly. "No. No he isn't," he agreed. "I promise you that."

The silence that followed was a moment of rare familial agreement—united in the face of Charlotte's endangerment. It had been a long time since Erik'd had such a thing with his children.

He sighed and changed topics. "How have you been in the past couple years?" he asked. "I haven't really spoken with you since Azazel was killed."

Wanda gave him a look of sympathy at the mention of Azazel. Despite herself, she had been fond of the teleporter who so readily assisted her parents' continued correspondence and so loyally kept it secret. She also knew that her estranged aunt had been very close with him. (The degree of their relationship was never noticed or known by any of the X-Men, except Charlotte. But then again, Charlotte was the exception to a good deal of rules.)

"Pietro's teaching all of the phys ed classes now," she replied. "Logan's been helping when he's around."

Her brother rolled his eyes at that but told his father, "And Wanda's finished her degree."

"Oh? Congratulations," Erik replied with a smile. The last he'd heard of it, she had only just started working on a master's degree in British literature.

The redhead smiled brightly. "I'm going to start on my doctorate once things…settle."

Erik chuckled. "That may take an unfortunate while," he replied. Pietro cracked a grin too.

Wanda smiled before hesitating. "You and Miss Frost have an…interesting relationship," she observed.

"She was in the Brotherhood for some years before her sister was found, captured for experimentation by Stryker," Erik explained. "At that point, they went to your mother's school. It was several months before you were born. They only remained for a few years, I think. Emma Frost had worked with the man who killed my mother before she joined me. She's a very…amorous woman. I was never interested and that always nettled her."

Wanda gave him a long look, far too similar to her mother's for Erik's comfort. "Because of Mum."

He sighed. "I've never been unfaithful to your mother, even though our relationship is…unusual. If that was what you were asking."

"You still love her."

The magnetokinetic looked to his son, leaning against the far wall, avoiding his gaze. "Yes, I've always loved her," he said, though his voice then turned bitter, "No matter what she or you or anyone else thinks."

His daughter was far more perceptive than he remembered. "She doubts it?" Wanda queried uncertainly before reaching her own conclusions. "You argued, didn't you?"

"We said many things in anger," he said quietly. "Things I fear I may not have the chance to take back.

"After I informed her that Stryker had gotten the information out of me. I had no choice in that; he had drugs—powerful drugs that I suspect came from one of his mutational experiments. I had no choice. Charlotte was furious at my betrayal, however unwilling it may have been," he added bitterly. "People think your mother is a forgiving saint, you know. She's not. I'm not blind to her faults, nor is she to mine. She has too much faith."

Pietro shifted curiously. "Too much faith in general or too much faith in you?"

For a moment, he could almost smell Cuba again—the salty air, the sharp gunpowder, the metallic blood. "Both. But mainly in me." The words tasted of regret on his lips.

His daughter reached over and grasped his hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"We're going to get her back," Pietro said to him. Determination glinted like steel in his eyes. "We are."

Erik nodded. "We must."

He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she died because of him and the last words he'd said to her were in anger. He wouldn't be able to live with that. He wouldn't be able to live without her at all.


	7. To the Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue and Revenge

  
**_"To the right, To the left  
We will fight to the death!  
To the edge of the earth  
It's a brave new world,  
It's a brave new world,_ **   
****_It's a brave new world!"_   


**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

She heard words that she heard but did not comprehend until much later when she remembered them.

" _Is it time to find to find our friends? All of them? Even Erik Lehnsherr and your children? All of the mutants everywhere? Every one of them?_ "

Charlotte could sense Stryker's venom behind them, but she had no option but to listen.

" _Find all the mutants. All of them. Everywhere. Find them all. Good._

 _"Now kill them._ "

* * *

He forced Cerebro open, cracked like a nutshell, even as the others were crumpled, screaming in pain from the mental attack. Well, the others who lacked an anti-telepathy defense.

Erik strode in calmly and paused by the sickly, pathetic looking mutant, who stared in mute fear. He smirked and tapped the helmet smugly before the magnetokinetic turned instead to Charlotte, who stared blankly into space. _Still under the mind control, then_.

To interfere with Cerebro while she was still using the device might have devastating consequences on Charlotte and all the minds she was connected to; Erik would have to find another method to break her from the trance. And he did not have much time before all the mutants were killed.

He went to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder warily. She gave no indication of being aware of his presence. Shaking her shoulder yielding no results. Erik laid a hand on her cheek, calling her name, trying all he could to bring her back to herself.

Nothing worked. Her mind was too firmly entrenched in Jason's control.

Magneto turned Jason Stryker, who was still staring in fear, unable to do anything. "You _will_ release her," he threatened. "Or I will kill you, Jason. And I promise it won't be pleasant."

He gave no verbal or visible response. For a moment, Cerebro was silent, interrupted by distant screams of the mutants outside. There was no response, no indication he would comply.

So Erik reached out and, taking a deep breath, _pulled_.

It wasn't quite like the security guard Lorio. He'd been purposefully imbued with extra iron by Mystique. But the human body had just enough iron in it for him to use when he focused.

For a moment, the red mist hung in the air before the blood fell and the iron gathered in his palm. Jason Stryker slumped in the wheelchair—thin and lifeless like a ragdoll. _Better than this lobotomized existence_ , Erik thought grimly.

There was a soft inhalation behind him. "Erik?"

He spun to see her ripping the helmet from her head. "Charlotte, _Gott sei Dank_ ," he breathed as he knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her in relief. "Are you alright?"

"I—you came for me," she murmured.

Erik smiled tightly to her. "Of course I did, Liebling. When will you realize— _I can't live in a world without you_." She returned his embrace fiercely before he straightened and she finally glanced around her.

The professor paled as she looked around Cerebro in horror. "What did I do?" gasped the telepath. "What—" She was interrupted by a rumble around them.

"Everyone should be fine," he reassured her, putting a calming hand to her cheek as he spoke. "We must leave now. I fear the pipe system was damaged; I don't think the dam will be holding for much longer." Indeed, the room trembled around them.

Erik stood, but she caught his arm. "Thank you," she whispered. "And—I'm sorry, so very sorry."

"Your thanks is never needed and your apology is superfluous," he replied gently as he bent to press a kiss to her cheek. The magnetokinetic pushed her wheelchair toward Cerebro's exit.

"Erik—" she murmured when she saw Jason Stryker.

He shook his head. "Not the time, Liebling. You weren't responding to anything and that was my only choice."

Outside, they were greeted by the motley crew anxiously.

"The dam's going to burst," Emma Frost said immediately. "We need to leave. Now."

Jean nodded. "The spillway," she suggested as the corridor trembled violently around them. The floor cracked and the walls shook.

"Now," agreed Storm.

Quickly, Erik reached for Charlotte. "This will be faster," he said, scooping her up from the wheelchair. She frowned but gave no reply as they began running.

Pietro came to them and put one of his mother's arms over his shoulders. "I can help," he offered.

The magnetokinetic nodded to his son and they shared her weight between them, while Wanda hovered anxiously behind them, as they all hurried to safety.

* * *

Shortly after Wolverine joined their group, just before they reached the surface, Erik paused. "Go on without me," he told them as he handed Charlotte over to Pietro and Kurt Wagner.

"What?" Charlotte exclaimed. "You aren't—"

"I'm not leaving until I know William Stryker is dead," he said darkly. "Not after this." Erik turned to his red-headed, blue-skinned ally. "Mystique?" She nodded.

The professor pursed her lips. "Be safe, for God's sake," she told him firmly.

He nodded and left with Mystique at his heels.

* * *

"Mr. Stryker," he greeted smugly.

It seemed the Wolverine had already found the scientist, judging by the puncture wounds. Stryker was chained to one of the landing gears on the jet.

"Funny we keep running into each other. Mark my words: it'll never happen again."

Erik smiled and tightened the chains, locking them firmly. "That is for using me for information."

He raised his hand, unable to resist, and tugged. Stryker's blood was unfortunately (for him) high in iron, making it even more painful. But Erik had been sure not to immediately kill him as he had done to Jason and Lorio.

"That is for taking and hurting the woman I love," he snarled and turned, leaving the man, bleeding, in pain, slowly dying. But he would not die quick enough to escape drowning.

He glanced at the dam, cracked and preparing to burst any moment, and knew neither he nor Charlotte would ever be in danger because of this mad man again.

The thought was more comforting than he expected.


	8. The Fight is Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sacrifice and Sorrow

**_“…The fight is done_ **   
**_The war is won_**   
**_Lift your hands_ **   
**_Towards the sun, Towards the sun_ **   
**_Towards the sun, Towards the sun_ **   
**_The war is won.”_ **

**~ “This is War”, 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

The jet appeared suddenly, flying unsteadily to them and landing through what looked like the Emergency Landing Mode, as they emerged from the base.

“I will take her,” the blue teleporter said to Pietro before hugging Charlotte tightly and—

They appeared on the jet, which Rogue was piloting shakily. Carefully, Kurt set her down in a seat. “Thank you, my friend,” she said as the others ran on board.

After a moment of focusing her mind, she turned to Scott, who had taken the pilot seat. “Scott, we need to get to Washington. I fear this has gone beyond Alkali Lake.”

Finally, she focused enough to reach out to the others as they all seated and strapped themselves in.

“What’s wrong?” Wolverine asked roughly.

Scott replied, “The vertical thrusters are offline.”

“So fix it,” he snapped.

Cyclops didn’t turn to look to him. “I’m trying.”

“Hey, has anyone seen John?” Rogue asked loudly. Charlotte paused to scan the area and found him… Her eyes closed when she found him. Jean replied before she did. “He’s with Magneto.”

Charlotte, Jean, and Emma stiffened suddenly when the youngest of the three felt the dam burst with her telekinesis. The professor listened as Jean formed a plan and left the jet.

To her right, Emma Frost glanced to her. _Is she really doing this?_

 _Yes,_ the professor replied sorrowfully. Emma said nothing and turned away.

“Jean?” Scott asked aloud, alerting everyone to her absence.

Logan spun. “Where’s Jean?”

“She’s outside,” Charlotte whispered sorrowfully and reached to Jean’s mind.

 _I’m not going to let you stop me_ , her pupil told her stubbornly.

Fear and premature grief gripped the professor’s heart. _I won’t stop you. But I will stay with you._

She watched through Jean’s eyes as the water from the damn surged forward.

From her own mind, she felt Stryker drown under the wave that hit him… ( _Good_ , a small, vindictive portion of her mind whispered in satisfaction.)

 _I have faith in you, Jean,_ Charlotte told her as Jean lifted the jet and held back the water. _Would you like to say goodbye?_ She asked gently.

The telekinetic nodded.

“ _I know what I’m doing; it’s the only way._ ”

Both Scott and Logan turned in shock to face the professor, but Scott knelt beside her, audibly choked with tears. “Alright, Jean, listen to me—don’t do this.”

“ _Goodbye_.”

 _I’m sorry, Professor_ , she whispered.

Charlotte shook her head against the tears. _Don’t apologize, Jean. You have always been and will always be one of my greatest students and children. And I will always love you as one of my own._

 _Goodbye_ … The last thought was a whisper as the water swallowed Jean.

She hear Scott screaming but forced herself to build a barrier as the jet filled with everyone’s grief—Scott, Logan, Storm, the twins, the children. She couldn’t handle it all and forced a wall up.

Beside her, Kurt bowed his head. “ _The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake_ ,” he whispered. “ _Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil…_ ”

For the first time in years, Charlotte Xavier bowed her head and allowed herself to cry.


	9. Epilogue: The War is Won.

**Book 4: Epilogue**

__**"Lift your hands**  
Towards the sun, Towards the sun  
Towards the sun, Towards the sun  
The war is won."

**~ "This is War", 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

"My fellow Americans, in this time of adversity, we are being offered a moment, a moment to recognize a growing threat within our own population and take a unique role in the shape of human events…"

The lights flickered as thunder rumbled.

"Are we still live? Did we lose the feed?"

No one answered him, all frozen by Charlotte. Kurt teleported them in beautifully just as the room went completely dark.

The President jumped when lightning illuminated their sudden appearance.

"Good morning, Mr. President," she said calmly, pushed her wheelchair forward slightly. "Please, don't be alarmed. They aren't going to harm anyone."

He glanced around the room at them all. "Who are you people?"

"We are mutants," she replied simply. "My name is Professor Charlotte Xavier. Please sit down."

He frowned. "I'd rather stand."

The telepath glanced over her shoulder. "Pietro?" she motioned. The boy stepped forward and slid the files across his desk to him. "These files were taken from the private offices of William Stryker."

He glanced down at them; his eyebrows furrowed and she felt his sudden confusion. "How did you get this?" he demanded.

Charlotte smiled slightly. "Well, let's just say I know a little girl who can walk through walls."

Reluctantly, he sat and examined the papers more. "I've never seen this information."

"I know."

"Then you also I know I don't respond well to threats."

She chuckled. "Yes, surprisingly, this is not a threat. This is an opportunity. There are forces in this world both mutant and human alike who believe a war is coming. You will see from those files that some have already tried to start one. And there have been casualties…losses on both sides.

"Mr. President," she leaned forward, "What you are about to tell the world is true. This _is_ a moment—a moment to repeat the mistakes of the past—" She brought the Mutant Registration Act and the Liberty Island incident to his mind subtly—"or to work together for a better future."

She withdrew a card from her pocket and laid it on his desk. He picked it up and she heard him reading it in his mind: _Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Headmistress: Professor Charlotte Xavier, ., Ph. D._

"We're here to stay, Mr. President," she informed him. "The next move is yours."

From behind her, Logan added, "We'll be watching."

* * *

 **** _"…I do believe in the light_  
Raise your hands into the sky  
The fight is done, the war is won  
Lift your hands toward the sun  
Toward the sun, toward the sun,  
Toward the sun,  
The war is won."

**~ "This is War", 30 Second to Mars**


End file.
